With about 18.5 million Nigerian children out of school, a House of Representatives member has urged each state governor to adopt at least five out-of-school children.

Chairman, House Committee on Women Affairs, Kafilat Ogbara, gave the charge on Wednesday night during the 4th day of the ongoing National Children Leadership Conference organized by Children of African Leadership and Values Development Initiative (CALDEV) founded by Bamidele Salam.

The lawmaker expressed confidence that the President of Nigeria genuinely cares about the nation’s youth which she said is evidenced by his announcement to organize a nationwide conference for young people.

She stressed the importance of empowering young people, saying that giving them a voice prepares them for a brighter future.

Lamenting the alarming number of out-of-school children in the country, Ogbara said approximately 60 per cent of these children are girls, accounting for 15 per cent of the global total.

The lawmaker characterized this situation as an emergency that needs collective action from individuals, parents, policymakers, and government officials.

She suggested that if governors could adopt just five out-of-school children each, it would significantly reduce the number and help reintegrate them into the education system.

“So, we need to act as Mothers, as parents as policy makers, as government even if our Governors can adopt five children that are out of school, this will go a long way to removing a huge number of children and putting them back to school,” she said.

“So, these are things we need to do as soon as possible because when we speak about children being out of school and we are speaking about a better Nigeria, the betterment of Nigeria is ahead and these our children that will become that future.”

On his part, Country Director for Plan International Nigeria, Charles Usie underscored the need for young Nigerians especially the Participants to translate the knowledge acquired from their various schools into skills that will solve human problems.

On his part, Hon. Abdulsamad Dasuki noted that the evolution of social media has created a wide gap between the older and younger generations of Nigerians.

He said: “I strongly believe it’s high time we start having inter-generations coming together so that we can share knowledge.”

To achieve the feat, he said: “we have to be deliberate to empower the younger generations. We have to be deliberate to enlighten the younger generations; we have to be deliberate to educate the younger generations; we have to be deliberate to expose the younger generations and lastly we have to be deliberate to elevate the younger generations.”

In his remarks, the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr. Aminu Maida who was represented by Nafisat Usman described Participants as those who will shape the future of Nigeria.

He however tasked them with the positive utilisation of social media for their intellectual development.

“You have the resources whether you own a tab or a laptop. You have the resources to read and better yourselves. Social media can be good if you are using it for educational purposes. But it can also be a distraction to you,” he said.